75-year-old retired teacher among arrested in crackdown ahead of Ankara NATO summit
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Police detained 41 TEMA environmental volunteers as part of the crackdown ahead of the NATO summit.
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Ayten Yakut, a retired teacher and a TEMA volunteer, is accused of being a member of a Marxist armed group.
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Her lawyer has filed an appeal for Yakut's release, citing lack of evidence and her health condition.
An Ankara court last week formally arrested 178 other individuals including academics, journalists, environmental activists, and students in a mass crackdown conducted ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in the capital city.
Ayten Yakut, 75, a long-time teacher and volunteer for the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA), was among the 41 members of the foundation targeted in the crackdown. She was remanded in custody on Jun 25 for on allegations of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and sent to Sincan Women's Closed Prison along with other women volunteers of TEMA.
She was released today following an appeal by her lawyer.
Number of arrests rises to 178 in Ankara ahead of NATO summit
Lawyers link the targeting of TEMA in the investigation to a coincidental ID check on Jun 3, when the group organized a visit to the Nallıhan Bird Sanctuary on the outskirts of Ankara. The group's bus was stopped by police who had set up checkpoints at the entrances to Ankara to prevent the entry of Eskişehir-based miners who were protesting over their unpaid wages and attempting to bring their protest to the capital city.
"When we evaluate the events from the perspective of legal technique, it is clear that we are facing a complete legal absurdity," Gürbüz Özdemir, Yakut's lawyer, told bianet, describing the proceedings as "the implementation of a purely political scenario."
"My client is a 75-year-old woman with health issues," said Özdemir. "She is a retired teacher who has spent years educating people in this community and has never set foot in a courthouse or police station."
"Under these circumstances, her arrest and subsequent detention—cruelly linked to an armed terrorist organization—is unacceptable both legally and morally," added the lawyer.
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'There is no single piece of evidence'
Police raided the home of Yakut, who lives alone, at around 4 in the morning on Jun 23. Along with several other detainees, she is accused of being a member of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML), an outlawed armed group that has been barely active over the past two decades.
"Not a single piece of evidence or allegation was included during the interrogation to substantiate my client's connection with the TKP/ML," Özdemir said. "The questions asked were limited to whether she was familiar with this organization. During the interrogation, no evidence or allegations were presented to substantiate the client’s connection to the group."
Despite this, the prosecutor's office alleged in its formal request for arrest following interrogations that the suspects could "carry out terrorist acts in an effort to portray the Republic of Turkey as a country associated with terrorism."
Özdemir asserted this request alone showed that the process was politically motivated.
An appeal has been filed against Yakut's detention.
Ankara court remands over 100 including academic, journalist ahead of NATO summit
NATO summit
The operations come ahead of the NATO summit scheduled for Jul 7–8 at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, where leaders from 32 countries will attend.
Around 40,000 security personnel will be on duty during the summit, and many streets will face strict traffic restrictions. Access to the summit venue and the areas where foreign leaders will stay is completely prohibited.
In preparation for the event, roads along the convoy routes have been lined with billboards featuring NATO and Turkish defense industry themes. The facades of houses along these routes have also been painted. These measures have drawn public criticism for restricting citizens' access to roads and putting up a superficial display for foreign leaders.
Hospital appointments reduced in Ankara 'for NATO summit,' doctors say
(EMK/VK)
Editor of bianet Women’s News (2018). Editor of bianet Women’s and LGBTI+ News from October 2018 to February 2025. She conducts workshops on gender-focused journalism and reporting on gender-based violence. She is among the founders of the Women and LGBTI+ Commission of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS). She is a board member of the TGS Istanbul Branch for the 2023–2027 term. She received the Musa Anter Journalism Award in 2011 and the Turkish Psychiatric Association’s Best News Award in 2024. She worked as a reporter for Cumhuriyet, BirGün, İMC TV, DİHA, Jinha, and Jin News, and also worked for local newspapers in Rize. Her news reports and articles have been published in Sivil Sayfalar, Yeşil Gazete, Journo, and trade magazines. She is one of the founding writers of GOR, a Hemşin culture magazine. She contributed writings to the books Yeşilden Maviye Karadenizden Kadın Portreleri, Sırtında Sepeti, and Medya ve Yalanlar. She was a bianet intern in 2000. She graduated from the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University.
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